FAAST

NEW ADMIT AND CURRENT YLS STUDENTS: ACCESS FAAST HERE

WELCOME TO FAAST

Welcome to Yale Law School’s Financial Aid Application and Scholarship Tool (FAAST). This system is unique to Yale Law School and allows both our admitted and current students to apply for need based financial aid. Any student who wishes to be considered for an institutional scholarship support, or future COAP assistance, must complete a FAAST application.

YLS awards aid solely on the basis of need and, as such, the FAAST system both collects and calculates data critical to that needs analysis. The system is also designed to streamline the application process in that only questions specific to your individual circumstances will be generated by the system and, as such, creates a fast (FAAST) application process.

THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT FAAST

• It’s free - because this is YLS’s own system, you do not have to pay any fees to complete the application.
• It’s confidential and secure - any information you provide is both fully protected and restricted for financial aid use only.
• It’s easy to complete - an online “status” bar will guide you through the application process and also allows you to begin an application, stop at any point and then return later at your convenience to complete the process.
  • After the applicant has been admitted, the access to FAAST will be available.
• It’s accessible for both admitted students and their parents. As part of its need analysis, YLS requires parental data for all students 28 years of age or younger.
  • Once a student has submitted their portion of the FAAST application, the email confirmation will include an individual URL link for their parents to log in securely and enter their own data (in confidence if they choose) which will automatically link that parent data to the respective student record.
  • FAAST also differentiates between custodial and non-custodial parents and allows each to enter their data privately and securely from the other.
• Only Admitted, Current Students, and their parents (if applicable) have access to FAAST.

FAAST TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

For optimum usage of FAAST, you need a computer with a web browser installed and access to the internet. Please have JavaScript and “cookies” enabled in your web browser. We support Internet Explorer 10.0, 11.0, and the most recent versions of Firefox, Safari and Chrome.

FAAST HELP DOCUMENTS

We encourage you to review the resource documents below prior to beginning the FAAST application. Questions may also be submitted to our dedicated FAAST email at faast.law@yale.edu

FAAST STEP BY STEP

Step 1: Gather the financial data that you will need to complete the application. Use our FAAST Financial Data Checklist for a list of pertinent documents.

Step 2: Use our Student Information Worksheet to review the questions and draft responses prior to entering data into the online system.

Step 3: FAAST will move you through a series of Student Applicant questions focused on:

• Demographics
• Academic Plans
• Household Information
• Annual Income
• Projected Income and Employment
• Assets
• Educational Loans and Non Educational Debt
• Other Financial Assistance/Outside Scholarships
• Special Circumstances (opportunity to share any individual circumstances that you wish Yale Law to be aware of in their consideration and assessment of your financial aid application)
• Scholarship Criteria (Demographics and Areas of Interest)
  (Note on the Scholarship Criteria section -YLS is fortunate to have many donors who establish funds to support our need-based scholarships. This series of questions allows us to match potential recipients with the specified donor criteria of these funds. While many of these questions focus on areas of educational or career interests, others are based on explicit demographic criteria specific to the donor’s desired support. Note that this section does not impact your overall scholarship eligibility based on need in any way.
• Authorizations and Certifications

Step 4: After ensuring that your application is complete (via the status bar) submit the application to YLS. LLM and MSL applicants will be able to upload tax and asset documentation as part of their FAAST application. You will receive a confirmation email indicating that the FAAST application has been received.

[Note Steps 5-8 only apply to students under age 29 as of 12/31/2024 for whom parental data is required].

Step 5: If under age 29, your confirmation email will also include a URL and a unique PIN number that your parent(s) can use to log in and access the Parent(s) portion of the FAAST application. If you have indicated on your application that your parent(s) are divorced or separated, you will receive two emails with two different URLs and two unique PINs and will need to designate a custodial vs. non-custodial parent (see definitions on the Student Worksheet or in the Frequently Asked Questions). The URL and unique PIN connect parent data with your initial application.

Step 6: Parents are encouraged to begin the process by using the FAAST Financial Data Checklist to gather documents necessary to complete the application and to use the Parent Information Worksheet to review the questions and draft responses.

Step 7: After logging in by inputting their PIN and then creating their own secure password, FAAST will move your parents through a series of questions focused on:

• Demographic Information
• Employment Information
• Household Information
• Income and Expenses (current tax year and projected tax year)
• Assets
• Special Circumstances (opportunity for parents to share any household circumstances they wish Yale Law to be aware of in the consideration of the student’s financial aid application)
• Authorizations and Certifications

Step 8: After ensuring that their application is complete (via the status bar) submit the application to YLS. LLM and MSL parent applicants will be able to upload tax and asset documentation as part of their FAAST application.The parent(s) will receive a confirmation email indicating that their FAAST application been received.